SRINAGAR: Three top separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Yasin Malik have strongly reacted to the police action against the students on Monday. They have condemned the action in three separate statements.
Syed Ali Geelani
While expressing deep concern over increasing use of repressive measures from forces against civilians and student community, Geelani said Kashmiri people are facing state terrorism. “As far as the ground situation is concerned, there is simmering lava against state terrorism and excesses perpetrated by the government, army and its police,” Geelani, said. “We won’t tolerate this and will resent if not stopped forthwith. Carrier of our students is at risk and this is unbearable.”
Referring to Pulwama incident, Geelani said that forces laid a naka outside college and without any reason entered college premises, thrashed and injured many.
“It is encouraging that they in solidarity with their brethren staged peaceful protest, however, forces and police resorted to brute force against peaceful protestors in which scores including girl students received injuries,” the statement attributed to Geelani said. “They unnecessarily target student community and used brute force.”
Geelani asked Delhi to stop their callous approach, and instead of employing repressive and coercive measures against people, they need to address the core issue and take steps for its lasting solution. He blamed Delhi for “creating disturbances to break our economical and education sector”.
Mirwaiz Umer Farooq
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who continues to be under house arrest, strongly denounced the use of savage force against students, terming it as worst form of state terrorism.
Reacting to the widespread protests across Kashmir by the students after the forces and police barged into degree college Pulwama on Saturday during which they beat harassed and gravely injured more than 50 students, Mirwaiz said that barbaric raj of police was prevalent in Kashmir to the extent that troopers and police did not even spare protesting students. “They forcibly barged into their educational institutions and fired tear gas canisters, showered pellets, and ruthlessly tortured them which was amply displayed in every nook and corner of the valleys educational institutions, as if seeking revenge from the students,” the statement issued by Mirwaiz said.
Mirwaiz said that the anguish of the students is understandable given the repression and barbarity of the state that they are witnessing around them. He, however, asked the students to be cautious and take care of themselves as no restraint or disciplined response can be expected from the unbridled Indian forces and the police in dealing with them as they have been given a free hand to kill and maim Kashmiris under any pretext.
The state will justify the barbarity of its forces through its prejudiced media by labeling them as “anti-national” and justify assaulting and punishing them accordingly before their nation and the world, he added.
Mohammad Yasin Malik
“Brutal use of force by police on students of various colleges and schools throughout Kashmir valley today in which many students have sustained injuries is a testimony to the fact that Jammu Kashmir has been turned into a police state where nobody is allowed to raise his head or voice in protest,” Malik said in a statement. “Ppolice, SOG and CRPF along with Indian army crossed every limit of brutality at Pulwama Degree College and dozens of girl and boy students were injured by police.”
Malik said that attacks on colleges and schools and brutalizing students is not acceptable to any civilized society and today’s peaceful protest by students of Kashmir is a genuine, legal and democratic protest and stopping it by police might cannot be termed but as clear state terrorism.
